Nutritious snack foods which are low in carbohydrates and/or fat while maintaining pleasant organoleptic characteristics (e.g., flavor, aroma, texture, appearance, and so forth) are in demand by many consumers. Cheese is a flavorful milk-based product that is an excellent source of calcium, protein, and other nutrients and is naturally low in carbohydrates.
Dried cheese-based products having a thin, crunchy texture have been sought in the past. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,090 describes a process for producing a microwave puffed cheese snack in which hot viscous drops of cheese base material or processed cheese or slices or diced natural cheese, cheese base material, or process cheese are formed into pieces to provide cheese precursor pieces having a fat content in the range of 0-70 percent, particularly 17-34 percent, and a moisture content of 20-50 percent. The precursor pieces are baked in a convection oven, and simultaneously or subsequent to baking, are subjected to a microwave cooking and drying step to puff the pieces without oiling off. The moisture content of the cooked, dried puffed product is less than 5 percent of that of the starting precursor pieces.
International Publication No. WO03061394 A1 describes a method for preparing cheese products, in which cheese is subjected to a heat treatment, involving separating cheese parts having main dimensions between 1 and 10 mm from a solid cheese having a fat content of at least 30 percent and subjecting the cheese parts to a microwave treatment so as to form an airy cheese product. The cheese parts may be subjected to a drying step (forced air drying at less than 20° C. for 3-7 hr) between the separating and microwave treatment steps.
French Patent 2,750,015A1 describes a process for manufacture of a dried puffed cheese product where a cheese material having an initial moisture of 25-65 percent, is expansion dried using microwave energy to final moisture content of less than 10 percent. The starting cheese material is described as “pop-corn” type product from cheese curds made from whole milk, flavored cheese curds, cheese curds made from skim milk, or thin slices of cheese (1 mm thick).
Japanese Patent Publication 03-147752 describes a puffed food in which moisture is added to a substance containing protein as a main ingredient and a gelatinized grain flour, and puffing the mixture by microwave heating. The substance containing protein may be cheese, powdered milk, or dried egg white powder, and the gelatinized grain flour may be glutinous rice or waxy corn starch having amylopectin content, so that total moisture content in the raw material may be preferably 20-80 percent. The mixture is kneaded and rolled into, for example, a 3-10 mm thickness and cut into a proper size; the dough is then heated in a microwave oven to form a puffed and dried food.
Coating agents have been applied to cheeses in the past for various purposes. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,770 describes a process and formulation for improved texture and melt of reduced-fat cheese products. This patent describes a hydrophobic material (viz., a fat or oil) used to prevent sticking in cheese.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,893 describes an anticaking agent used for reducing the stickiness of diced or shredded cheese products. The anticaking agent comprises fine mesh vegetable flour, bentonite, cellulose, and antimycotic agents or bacterial cultures. This patent is not concerned with drying of the cheese pieces or preventing them from sticking during melting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,613 concerns nonpuffed dried cheese pieces of nonmelting cheese made by drying nonmelting cheese pieces to a final moisture content, preferably between 2 and 8 percent, by dielectric heating, (e.g., microwave heating).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,670 concerns a method of baking pizza from coated frozen cheese granules, in which cheese pieces are coated with cheese emulsifiers to promote melting and fusing of the cheese pieces during heating.
In spite of these and other efforts, there remains a need for shelf stable puffed cheese snack product which is low in carbohydrates and fat and having pleasant organoleptic properties. The present invention provides such a snack product.